“In their first appearance (Hornet’s Nest, 1997), Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Virginia West, and reporter-turned-rookie-cop Andy Brazil battled a serial killer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, in Patricia Cornwell’s Southern Cross, the trio are dispatched to Richmond, Virginia–via an NIJ (National Institute of Justice) grant–to quell the growing gang problem and modernize the beleaguered Richmond PD. They bring with them a sophisticated computer program for tracking criminal activity and a tried-and-true methodology for reforming Richmond’s men and women in blue. Unfortunately, Hammer, Brazil, and West could not have been prepared for the resentment they would confront… or the bizarre cast of characters they would find upon their arrival: Lelia Ehrhart–wealthy (and nosey) chair of the Blue Ribbon Crime Commission–whose heavy European accent renders her English dangerously hilarious; Butner “Bubba” Flunk IV–tobacco industry worker, gun collector, and UFO aficionado; Smoke–the sociopathic leader of the Pikes gang; and Weed Gardener–14-year-old painter turned master graffiti artist…The novel becomes a satire on city politics, Southern culture, the ever-tense relationship between the police and the public, and the struggles of the average man and woman with computer technology.”

“In the fourth installment of the Earth’s Children series…Auel again describes her characters’ travails, a passionate interest of millions of readers, in impeccably researched detail…The saga continues the cross-continental journey of Ayla, her mate Jondalar and their menagerie to his homeland. En route, they encounter a variety of problems, yet manage to find panaceas for each. Their enlightened compilation of skills, inventions, therapies and recipes transforms the voyagers into spirit-like personas providing The Others with constant awe.”

“Chicago defense attorney Martin Vail, a prosecutor’s worst nightmare. Vail has vexed the political machine by winning a multimillion-dollar brutality judgment against the city, county and state police, but the powers that be think they see a way to pay him back. After discovering the mutilated body of Archbishop Richard Rushman in the rectory of his church, police find Aaron Stampler cowering in a confessional, blood-soaked and gripping the murder weapon. It seems like an ironclad case–psycho slasher carves up “the Saint of Lakeview Drive”–and a hostile judge appoints Vail as pro bono defense attorney, hoping to publicly humble him. Vail is impressed by Stampler, a runaway from the bishop’s haven, Savior House, and builds a maverick defense team to butt heads with vengeful prosecutor Jane Venable…”

“If you want to learn about Blogging, IM, Podcasting, or anything else Media or just want to hang out and chat with people involved with the community come on out. We can help set up a blog or podcast or show you tips on how to improve. Any level of know how or experience is welcome. Bring a laptop if you have one, Molly’s has FREE Wi-Fi!”

“Phillip Barkley, the disillusioned protagonist of this nifty political thriller, has been sidelined as an investigator at the Justice Department since he blew the whistle on a fundraising scandal on Capitol Hill. About to chuck his pretense of a job and head to the West Coast to restart his life, he’s still grieving the death of his daughter when Martin Green, the aide to a presidential hopeful, goes missing in what might be the kind of breach of national security that could destroy Warren Young’s hopes for higher office. When Green’s body is found, Phillip is assigned to work with an ambitious young FBI agent who’s too politically naive to understand that she and Barkley are supposed to close the case before it can taint Young’s campaign, not find out who framed Green and why. But whoever it is that doesn’t think they’ve gotten the message will do whatever’s necessary to keep Phillip from stumbling on the same truth that got Green killed–including killing again. Double-dealing abounds in this well-written, fast-paced story, which has as many twists and turns as the road to the White House.”

Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch–former hero cop bumped from the L.A. homicide desk to the lowly Beverly Hills squad–gets the call on a drug death at Mulholland Dam. Harry recognizes the corpse as that of a fellow soldier in Vietnam; both were “tunnel rats” who searched for Viet Cong in the network of burrows beneath Vietnamese villages. Investigation connects his old pal to an unsolved bank job–the vault was tunneled into from the storm drains below–and Harry takes his information to the FBI. The Bureau alerts the LAPD, which reactivates internal affairs surveillance (the previous IAD episode is explained throughout the narrative), only to have the FBI backtrack and request Harry as liaison on the case. Paired with beautiful FBI agent Eleanor Wish, Harry makes sense of the Vietnam connection to the bank job–a discovery that puts them both in danger from deadly ex-Marines and a powerful insider from either the LAPD or the FBI itself.

Noting that “most United States newspapers did not play up Earth Hour” and that the Canadian papers which were reviewed “previewed Earth Hour a lot more prominently” and “dominated with Earth Hour pictures,” David Gough asks, why did Earth Hour have a larger profile in Ontario?01